Trustees, Council and Education Board discuss construction
By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Record Herald; Printed 11.4.12
Several new construction projects are in store for Tipp City next year, including the renovation of downtown utilities and the Main Street lift station.
These projects and more were discussed at Monday’s Tri-Agency meeting for city, township, and school officials. These meetings, held in months with a fifth Monday, are a way for local officials to discuss issues and provide updates on current and upcoming projects.
“We are going to have a lot of projects underway next year, which means that a lot of our streets are going to be torn up,” City Manager Jon Crusey said.
Crusey provided an update on upcoming construction projects including the Fire/EMS station renovation, the replacement of downtown utilities, and several road resurfacing and water line replacement projects. All of these projects are currently under design and will be put out to bid this winter, with construction beginning next year.
The construction on Main Street will include a new water main, replacement of sanitary sewers, building a storm sewer and repairing roads and sidewalks impacted by the work along Main between the railroad tracks and First Street.
City officials met with downtown business owners whose businesses will be affected by the construction several weeks ago to discuss the project. Once the plans for the project are finalized, they will meet with the business owners again so they have a better idea of what’s going to happen in front of their buildings.
“We’re still working with the engineer on the design of the project. When we come back, hopefully in the next three or four weeks, we’ll have a lot more detail for them about what’s going to happen,” Crusey said.
Another upcoming project is the renovation of the Main Street lift station. The Tri-Cities North Regional Wastewater Authority is required by the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate the sanitary sewer overflows – when the system is overwhelmed by clean watering infiltrating the sewer system – that happen during heavy rains.
The city’s portion of the project includes upgrades to the lift station and a new 30-inch sanitary sewer main. TCA will also build two new 2.5 million gallon water storage tanks near Kyle Park. Council approved a water and sewer rate increase earlier this year to help finance the city’s portion of the project.
Road construction in 2013 will include the reconstruction of South Third Street and part of Dow Street and water and sewer line replacements, as well as repaving, on Judith, Michael, and Earl Streets.
The current construction on Evanston Road has been an inconvenience to many residents, but since there are two polling places on Evanston Road, the city aims to have the road open to traffic in time for Election Day. The polling places are the Church of Christ and Charity Baptist Church on Evanston Road.
Evanston Road was closed due to the construction of water lines and sanitary sewers for the Fieldstone Place assisted living center. That work has been completed and asphalt has been laid on Evanston Road west of County Road 25A. According to Crusey, the plan is to finish laying asphalt east of 25A late this week.
“Hopefully they’ll have all the asphalt back in place by the end of the week and the temporary signs and temporary signal out of the way so that that intersection is open and fully functional for the weekend,” Crusey said. “The county does have polling places down in that area, so one of our goals is to get that intersection open so people can get to and from the polls next Tuesday.”
According to Crusey, whether or not construction is complete, voters will be able to get to the polls.
The township is stopping its recycling program, which began in the early 1990s, because the program has become too costly to keep up. According to Cox, about 100 people participated in the program, but continually rising costs made it too difficult to keep up.
“Due to budget reasons, it’s a program that we feel we no longer can support,” Cox said.
The last day for collection is November 10.
Township Trustee and veterinarian Martin English also talked about a successful fundraiser to purchase a GPS collar for the city’s police dog, Gitta. The collar can track the dog in real time and keeps a record of everywhere the dog has been. The fundraiser has so far raised about $1,000 to purchase the collar, which is expected to cost about $700. Any money leftover after the purchase will go to the K9 unit, Gitta and her handler Officer Greg Adkins.
“We’ve had a good response,” English said.
Tipp City schools were again rated “excellent” for the sixth year in a row and have been excelling in sports and music, but according to Superintendent John Kronour, the district will be facing some challenges in the future. The last school levy, a five-year, 7.95-mill emergency levy, was soundly defeated in August.
“It went down with a pretty resounding defeat and we decided not to put it back on in November and are currently trying to figure out exactly what is the next move for us ,” Kronour said.
At the board’s next work session, school officials will discuss what action to take next, considering cuts and a new levy.
The school has received a grant from Race to the Top to fund some of the testing the district does, which means that those dollars will not come out of the school’s general fund. The school is also starting Project MORE for a second school year and looking for more volunteers to help with the project. Project MORE is a volunteer reading mentor program for students who need a little extra help with their reading skills.
“It’s very fulfilling,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Gretta Kumpf. “We’re excited about that and looking forward to good results.”
The next Tri-Agency meeting will be April 29, 2013.
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